In the economic situation of a possible double dip downturn, every business must look for ways to improve the bottom line. One sure way to improve the margin between income and expense is to reduce expenses.
There are three areas that many managers overlook in their quest to eliminate expense from the budget.
- 1. Reduce Telecom expense. By evaluating contracts and comparing rates and programs, there could potentially be an opportunity to lower the contract rates for wireless services. Especially due to the influence of new smart phones such as the iPhone OS4, there is a battle for customers. Even customer retention has become a popular program with incentives and offers. If you are ready to pull the rug, you can negotiate with the cellular carriers to get a better program and rate.
- 2. Explore alternative energy plans. In some areas, there are incentives for reducing power consumption if and when there is a call from a third party to do so. In return, a quarterly reward is paid, regardless if the need arises to reduce power consumption. Based upon the size of the company and the carbon foot print, this could be a great way to reduce power consumption as well as lower the cost of doing business.
- 3. Monitor and enforce time and attendance system. With an old paper time card and punch clock, there are many inefficiencies that can cause extra expense. For example, the manual process of reviewing time cards and collating information is time consuming an costly. Newer time and attendance systems have built-in metrics that can highlight inconsistencies easily. Plus the automatic calculations based upon pre-set rules can save processing time, creating a more efficient and more accurate reporting environment. Workforce management technology results in reduced overtime pay and could potentially avoid wage theft situations. Saving money means upgrading to a new system and replacing old technology.
Overall there are great ways to improve efficiency and reduce wasted time by evaluating your business and streamlining efforts.
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- Reduce Your Labor Expenses With Time and Attendance Solutions (fandetimesystems.wordpress.com)
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